ONLINE PREMIERE: “BILL MURRAY”

I know there is a new video coming out every single day, but, no bullshit, Bill Murray might be one of the best homie videos we’ve seen in a long long time. Traveling to different skate scenes (NYC, Japan, Florida), along with dozens of cameos from skaters, it’s like a giant mixtape of all your favorite pro/not pro skaters, set to a eerie unique soundtrack. With every new video pushing a specific brand, skater or shop these days, Bill Murray is refreshing in that the only thing it’s pushing is creating an enjoyable skateboard video and experience that will hopefully stick with you and inspire you to get on the board.

Q & A WITH ALEX RASPA, FILMER AND CREATOR OF “BILL MURRAY”

Why is it called Bill Murray? how did you come up with the title?
The reason I decided to call this film “Bill Murray” is because when my homies and I took our first trip out to Tokyo we couldn’t stop with the Lost In Translation references. From saying the quotes or wanting to do things that “Bob Harris” did out in Tokyo. As time went on we realized that if we got stopped by Japanese security or cops for skating a spot we’d say we were filming for the new Bill Murray movie. Their reaction was pretty priceless. I have clips of cops talking in Japanese about how great Murray was on Saturday Night live multiple times. As this would be happening, we’d keep skating the spot. It was a way to defer attention from the skating and on to Bill Murray.

Why is the editing all fucked up and ADHD?
The editing is fucked up because that’s the way I wanted it to be. I do suffer from ADHD. I mean who doesn’t. But mine gets pretty bad, whether it’s music or in editing or just in life. So I am really picky with music within an edit. With this video, I was looking to do little things that I hadn’t seen done before. I decided to overlap tracks (instrumentals over accapella raps) and I even got my friend’s mom to play a violin piece that I used to place over Jack Kerouac’s poetry. I wanted to experiment. It’s a bit jumpy but so is skateboarding. I figured with time people will rewatch it. That was a goal I wanted to achieve, kinda like how you can watch The Big Lebowski over and over again.

What makes your video different than the other homie / indie vids out there? Why should anyone watch it?
Gosh what makes it different? Well it does have a lot of cameos in it. And then I think it has some sort of climatic approach. If you like O.G. skateboarders, if you like change, if you like different places, and if you like New York, I think you should watch the video. I really look up to those videos that raise the stakes. Like P.J. Ladd’s Wonderful Horrible Life, or the Polar Skateboards promo. Game changers. Edits or videos that make you want jump on your board and go cruise. I think music in a skate video can help us get to that point. So maybe the video has some of that. To achieve some sort of climax within a skate video is really hard to do. Maybe I did that. That’s up for you to decide.